Unsheathed

Right at this moment, however, Chen Ping’an unexpectedly said, “Not only will I let you keep this Dragon Gate Stele, but we can even split the chest of snowflake coins seventy-thirty in your favor. And I’ll take the two skeletons at the entrance.”

“Those two skeletons genuinely aren’t worth anything,” the scholar responded in puzzlement. “This female cultivator from the Lofty Moral Sect only reached the Dragon Gate Tier, and her immortal robe is also extremely ordinary. Her skeleton won’t be worth many lesser heat coins. As for that dragon robe, do you believe me when I say that it will instantly disintegrate into dust once you touch it?”

There was an amused smile on the scholar’s face as he continued, “In any case, it’s not very appropriate to remove clothes from a deceased person, is it? Especially a female cultivator.”

“There’s no need for you to worry about these things,” Chen Ping’an replied.

“Then I accept your proposal,” the scholar said with a nod.

The scholar swung his large sleeve and retrieved the Dragon Gate Stele along with the wooden chest. Meanwhile, Chen Ping’an placed the two skeletons inside his minimization treasure.

It was evident that the scholar also possessed at least one minimization treasure.

Chen Ping’an received approximately one thousand five hundred snowflake coins from the chest of immortal coins.

The scholar was still a little unsatisfied after getting the better end of the deal, and he said, “Peeling Mountain’s Lady Bishu always needed to offer tributes to her powerful backer, so this has resulted in her wealth being relatively limited. Otherwise, how could a Golden Core Tier demon possess so little wealth?”

“Being able to survive in the tumultuous Malicious Ghost Valley is already a difficult and impressive feat, so how can the Golden Core Tier earth immortals here possibly compare to the Golden Core Tier earth immortals of the outside world?” Chen Ping’an replied.

The scholar nodded and concurred, “That’s correct.”

“Do you have any water storage spirit tools like a drink bottle immortal tool?” Chen Ping’an casually asked.

All of a sudden…

Chen Ping’an drew his sword, and First and Fifteenth that were traveling through the ground shot back out, with one aiming at the scholar’s temple and one aiming at the scholar’s heart from behind.

The scholar appeared slightly exasperated as he asked, “What are you trying to do? Is this one bad person trying to attack another bad person? Can you truly not wait until we’ve raided the five other cave abodes one after another and eaten our fill first? Can we not wait until then to fight to the death?”

Chen Ping’an’s expression was solemn. There was a brief moment just then when he detected killing intent from the scholar.

The killing intent that had appeared in the scholar’s heart just then was even stronger than his killing intent toward Lady Bishu before he had lashed out and killed her.

Chen Ping’an looked at the scholar, yet his expression and mental state were completely normal at this moment.

He summoned First and Fifteenth back into his Sword Nurturing Gourd, and he returned Sword Immortal to the scabbard on his back, saying while he did this, “My eyes went blurry just then, and I mistakenly thought that a yin entity hiding in this cave was about to launch a sneak attack on you.”

“I never expected that Big Brother would also have such a benevolent heart,” the scholar chuckled in reply. “However, with how you’re afraid of blood and prone to getting blurry eyes, I hope that you don’t hinder things too much when we target the other demons in the future.”

Chen Ping’an merely smiled and offered no response.

The two of them left the stone cave together, walking along the underground passageway to return to Lady Bishu’s residence.

They walked side-by-side.

The scholar smiled and asked, “How should I refer to Big Brother?”

“My surname is Chen, and my name is Haoren,” Chen Ping’an replied.[1]

The scholar was rendered speechless, and he almost choked upon hearing this response.

He had come across shameless people before, but he had never come across someone as shameless as this.

“And what about you?” Chen Ping’an asked.

The scholar was yet to fully recover, and he replied in a listless manner, “There’s no need to mention my surname. You can just call me Mumao. Mu as in wood and Mao as in luxuriant.”

“That’s quite a good name,” Chen Ping’an commented with a nod.

“Not as good as Brother Haoren’s,” the scholar replied.

“You flatter me,” Chen Ping’an said.

The scholar suddenly smiled and asked, “Do you know about the background and history of the Dust Warding Primordial Lord?”

Chen Ping’an shook his head and replied, “You already know that I’m an outsider, and I only passed Peeling Mountain by accident while sightseeing around Malicious Ghost Valley. How can I know about the background and history of these demons? However, these demons are fairly interesting as well, actually daring to refer to themselves as the Six Sages. They’re giving themselves the titles of Lady and Primordial Lord, and even their subordinate spirits dare to refer to themselves as noble scholars.”

“They’re spirits from a small place, so it isn’t strange that they lack etiquette and refinement,” the scholar said. “The Dust Warding Primordial Lord was originally a smart little mink in the Small Mystery Capital Temple, and he didn’t stop or hold back after gnawing on two incense sticks used to pay respects to heaven and earth. He even dared to secretly drink the fragrant oil in the colored glaze bowl, and he went as far as to accidentally knock the bowl over as well. However, it was this event that allowed him to gain intelligence and become a spirit.

“The little mink’s actions at the time were witnessed by a young immortal boy, and the boy flared up in rage and whipped him with his horsetail whisk, causing his flesh to become mangled and bloody. The mink was barely breathing and was on the verge of death. However, the old immortal took pity on the little mink and his Dao opportunity, so he not only released him from the Daoist temple and the peach tree forest, but he even scooped up some ten-thousand-year-old soil from beneath a peach tree and rubbed it on his wounds. As such, this little mink is unafraid of water, fire, and blades. Ordinary immortal tools and weapons can’t injure him at all.”

The scholar recounted these secret matters as if he had witnessed them himself, and he continued, “After leaving the peach tree forest, the little mink had the entire world in front of him to explore. He took over a mountain and gave himself the title of Primordial Lord, and he started to enjoy a leisurely life after constructing his own cave abode.

“However, he still remembers the goodwill displayed to him in the Small Mystery Capital Temple, the place where he attained Dao, so he holds deep respect toward that old immortal. In fact, he even has a memorial tablet for the old immortal in his own cave abode, and he pays his respects and offers incense to this memorial tablet every single day.

“Most of the spirits in the world behave like this, harboring deep respect for the land and fated opportunity that allowed them to attain Dao. Lady Bishu was like this, and this little mink is also the same. On this note, the Dust Warding Primordial Lord is identical to Lady Bishu in the sense that he’s also a spirit with a powerful backer. Are you not afraid of angering that old immortal from the Daoist temple? After all, one needs to anticipate the master’s reaction before beating their dog.”

“Oh, then let’s not target the Dust Warding Primordial Lord. Let’s head directly to the Mountain-Moving Great Sage instead,” Chen Ping’an replied with a nod.

The scholar laughed and said, “There’s no need to go so far. The old immortal simply respects the fated opportunity, and he has no further relationship with the little mink spirit. It won’t be an issue for us to team up and kill the Dust Warding Primordial Lord together.”

“How can you speculate on, or see through, an old Daoist immortal’s thoughts?” Chen Ping’an asked. “I’ve heard that before obtaining a fated opportunity, cultivators are most hopeful of that one in ten-thousand chance. After attaining Dao, however, they become most afraid of that one in ten-thousand chance.”

The scholar started to act shamelessly, saying, “It’s up to you whether you believe this or not, but I’m definitely traveling to the Dust Warding Primordial Lord’s Gushing Earth Mountain no matter what. Things have been quite lively at the Mountain-Moving Great Sage’s mountain recently, and the Dirty Water Cave Abode’s Demon Hunting Immortal and Accumulating Cloud Mountain’s Imperial Thunder Divine General are likely both present, drinking and scheming something with him. Perhaps that old turtle’s daughter is acting obsequiously over there as well.

“On the other hand, only the Dust Warding Primordial Lord dislikes bustling atmospheres, so he’s most likely alone at his cave abode right now. However, if you feel like the Small Mystery Capital Temple is too powerful and terrifying, then let’s call it a day and part ways here? We can each go our separate ways. What do you say?”

“Then let’s call it a day and part ways on good terms,” Chen Ping’an said.

The scholar was surprised by this response, but he didn’t make any comment.

He simply treated this as a case of encountering a strange person with a strange temper.

After the two of them returned to Lady Bishu’s room, the scholar extended a hand and gestured for Chen Ping’an to leave Peeling Mountain first. This was to avoid any potential misunderstandings and suspicion that he would run out of Moon Hall first and make a huge commotion to alert the many spirits on Peeling Mountain.

Chen Ping’an jumped onto the wall and quietly took his leave.

Meanwhile, the scholar remained standing in the room. The reason why he was willing to be so understanding regarding this matter was because he didn’t want to do away with all pretenses of geniality and enter an unnecessary conflict with Chen Ping’an. He was also more than happy for Chen Ping’an to face the Mountain-Moving Great Sage head-on to draw the attention of the other demons and spirits. That way, he could leisurely dispose of the Dust Warding Primordial Lord and eat his fill again.

These demons didn’t possess high cultivation bases, and they each ruled their own territories. However, they were all allied with each other and would provide mutual support when required. This was the fundamental reason why they were able to exist in Malicious Ghost Valley. Otherwise, just a single Nascent Tier cultivator would be able to travel around and easily defeat them one after another. They wouldn’t have been able to survive until today.

In the past, a Nascent Tier yin spirit from a northern city had attempted to take advantage of his cultivation base to suppress the Six Sages, but he had suffered a huge loss precisely because of the alliance and mutual support between the six demons. In fact, the Nascent Tier yin spirit had almost been killed at Accumulating Cloud Mountain.

The scholar raised a hand and exhaled lightly, breathing out a vermilion demon core and causing it to hover and spin above his palm. The demon core radiated with wisps of mist and cold air.

However, the scholar wasn’t a ghost or a spirit, so ingesting this demon core would only damage his Great Dao.

A white and crystalline jade box appeared in the scholar’s other hand, and he placed the demon core inside this small jade box before sealing it off. He then dusted off his sleeves. The essence of Lady Bishu’s blood and flesh had already been absorbed by his robe, a Dao robe that he had snatched from the body of an earth immortal demonic cultivator in the past. This Dao robe was called the Hundred Eye Taotie, and it hadn’t been of a very high grade to begin with.[2] In fact, it couldn’t even be regarded as an immortal treasure.

The scholar was able to conceal his identity while wearing this Dao robe, but more importantly, this Dao robe was actually able to grow as well. Every time the scholar had the rare opportunity to leave home to relax his mind these past few years, he would slay demons whenever he got the urge, with most of these demons then becoming food and nutrition for the Hundred Eye Taotie.

The scholar suddenly reached up and massaged his glabella, murmuring to himself, “Why did you stop me from killing that person in the stone cave just then? What would it matter if I damaged a bit of your virtue? When you sever the three corpses in the future, you’ll naturally be able to sever everything.[3] You’re quite an interesting person as well. Other Golden Immortal Daoist priests would all choose to sever me first when severing the three corpses and nine insects, but you’ve purposely decided to leave me for last.[4]”

The scholar fell silent for a moment, a complicated expression on his face.

He flicked his large sleeve, transforming into a burst of rolling black smoke before burrowing into the ground and vanishing in an instant.

1. Haoren (好人) literally means good person. ☜

2. The Taotie is an ancient Chinese mythological creature that symbolizes gluttony. ☜

3. Severing the three corpses (斩三尸) is a Daoist concept that has been borrowed by web novels and slightly altered. The three corpses refer to the Evil Corpse, the Kind Corpse, and the Self Corpse (obsessive thoughts). ☜

4. In Daoism, the three corpses represent the three types of evil desires that exist inside people’s bodies, with each existing as an insect. There are three insects each in the top corpse, the middle corpse, and the lower corpse. Severing these three corpses will allow one to become a Golden Immortal. ☜